Councillor Matthew Hicks, leader of Suffolk County Council, Jo Churchill, MP for Bury St Edmunds and Clive Selley, CEO of Openreach, were joined by representatives from West Suffolk Council, Suffolk Chamber of Commerce, Church of England, Country Land and Business Association (CLA), National Farmers Union (NFU) and the Better Broadband for Suffolk Team to confirm plans to reach 98 per cent coverage in 2020.

A commitment has been made to extend superfast broadband in Suffolk to 98 per cent coverage by the end of 2020.

Coverage currently stands at more than 93 per cent and funding opportunities will be explored to work on delivery to the final two per cent.

The plans were announced following a meeting between Cllr Matthew Hicks, leader of Suffolk County Council, Jo Churchill, MP for Bury St Edmunds and Clive Selley, CEO of Openreach.

They were joined by representatives from West Suffolk Council, Suffolk Chamber of Commerce, Church of England, Country Land and Business Association, National Farmers' Union and the Better Broadband for Suffolk team.

Mrs Churchill said: "Fast and reliable broadband is one of the most important aspects of everyday life for residents and businesses in Suffolk.

"This signed agreement marks the huge effort and great progress made in delivering this."

She added that the commitment 'takes us one step closer to our shared endeavour for a completely connected Suffolk'.

Cllr Hicks said: "It is important to remind everyone that speeds will not increase on their own.

"Once a fibre broadband connection has been enabled, individuals will need to contact an internet service provider and ask to upgrade to a superfast broadband service so that they can benefit from the faster speeds."